Hubble Examines Massive Metal Asteroid Called 'Psyche' That's Worth Way More Than Our Global Economy

[Judi Lynn]

Oct 26, 2020,11:00pm EDT
Jamie Carter Senior Contributor



The massive asteroid 16 Psyche is the subject of a new study by SwRI scientist Tracy Becker, who ... [+] COURTESY OF MAXAR/ASU/P. RUBIN/NASA/JPL-CALTECH

A new study by the Hubble Space Telescope has revealed a clearer picture than ever before of one of the most intriguing and most valuable asteroids we know of.

It’s also one that NASA is planning to visit in 2026.

Here’s everything you need to know about “16 Psyche.”

What and where is ‘16 Psyche?’

About 230 million miles/370 million kilometers from Earth, Psyche—as it’s commonly known—is one of the most massive objects in the Solar System’s main asteroid belt orbiting between Mars and Jupiter.

It’s about 140 miles/226 kilometers-wide and—unlike most asteroids, which are rocky or icy—Psyche appears to be metallic.

More:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamiecartereurope/2020/10/26/hubble-views-massive-asteroid-called-psyche-that-could-worth-more-than-our-global-economy/#51deab17515a

[eppur_se_muova]

1. As soon as an orbit is established, that will answer the question of density.

Got to be some unusual contingency planning going into that mission -- maybe they'll go for an initial orbit assuming a low density (hence low mass) and aim for an orbit appropriate to a low escape velocity so they don't overshoot and lose the probe. A higher density for Psyche will give a highly elliptical orbit, so they may need to burn more thruster fuel than on previous missions. Then they've got to allow for the possibility that the density is unpredictably higher or lower than expected, and game all that out. Then if they screw up, they lose a multimillion-dollar probe with the whole world watching. Kind of a high-stress project for those mission planners.

More info at NASA: https://www.nasa.gov/psyche (some of the links are unfinished)
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/psyche/

[lastlib]

2. Shooting for an orbit around an asteroid has got to be....

one of the most mathematically (and physically!) challenging tasks in space exploration! I could imagine the mathematicians calculating that flight path will be inventing some new Greek alphabet letters in the process! Wow--glad I'm not doing that on a slide rule!